Kapila Theertha

Kapila Theertha is at the foot part of Tirumala hills. This temple lies northeast of Tirupati. It is located within a distance of one km from Alipiri(starting point of Tirumala footway), 4 to 5 km from Tirupati railway station and Bus station. The famous ISKCON Lotus temple of Lord Krishna is located from here within a distance of 0.5 km.

Pilgrims can find so many autos and town buses to reach Kapila Theertha. Kapila Theertha lies on the Tirumala bypass road from the bus station.

Other temples in Kapila Theertha

Goddess Kamakshi(An avatar of goddess Parvathi, wife of Lord Shiva) temple lies here. Alwar temple, Lakshmi Narayana Swamy temple, Veda Narayana Swamy temple, Lord Ganesha, Kumara Swamy, Dakshina Murthy temples are also located here.

Reason for the name of this temple …

The great Shiva Linga in Kapila Theertha was established and worshiped by a great saint whose name was Kapila Maharshi in ancient days. That’s why the Lord in this temple is called Kapileshwara Swamy, and this place is called Kapila Theertha. This is the temple legend. However, This is not the original name of this shrine.

Actual name of Kapila Theertha was Alwar Theertha. For centuries, older generations called this sacred place as Alwar Theertha until the 18th century. The reason for this is Alwar saints used to bathe in this waterfall before going to the darshan of Sri Venkateswara in those days. People started to call this temple as Kapila Theertha from 1850 A.D only.

In ancient days, there was a footway from Kapila Theertha to Tirumala. In those days, pilgrims first took the bath in Kapila Theertha, and then they started their journey on that footway to reach Tirumala.

History of Kapila Theertha temple

Kulothunga Chola inscriptions were the most ancient inscriptions among all the inscriptions found in this temple. Those inscriptions belonged to the 10th century. Lord Kapileswara's greatness was mentioned in those inscriptions.

Pallava kings, Vijayanagara kings, Tirumala Mahants and so many others developed this historically and sacred temple.

This temple is in under the maintenance of TTD, Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams.

Maha Shivaratri is the most famous festival here. On that day, thousands of locals gather here and worship the Lord Kapileshwara.